A variety of potable liquids (e.g., fruit juice and similar non-carbonated beverages) have recently been packaged in single serving, disposable containers usually formed of liquid impervious paper board material or a metallized film. These conventional containers are typically provided with a discreet drinking straw which is itself packaged in a sealed film envelope adhered to an exterior surface of the container. These containers also have an opening which is sized so as to accept the accompanying straw and is normally closed via a rupturable cover. In use, the consumer will detach the accompanying straw and will puncture the cover of the container's opening so as that the beverage may be withdrawn through the straw.
These typical containers have several problems. For example, the containers usually need to be collapsed during use so as to assist in removal of the beverage contents through the straw. However, once the straw has ruptured the cover of the opening, there is really no effective seal formed between the straw and the container. Thus, squeezing the container during use usually results in the liquid beverage leaking through the opening and onto the consumer's hands, clothing, etcetera. In addition, the straws that accompany these conventional containers are typically of insufficient length (e.g., due to the geometry of the containers and the need to physically attach a straw to the container's exterior surface) to allow the entire contents of the container to be consumed.
Recently, it has been proposed to provide a separate reusable holder for the conventional beverage containers mentioned above (see, Wall Street Journal, May 31, 1989, page B1). In essence, the reusable container holder is intended to provide protection against the spillage and leakage problems associated with the beverage containers as discussed above, in addition to providing its own straw of sufficient length to allow the entire contents of the container to be consumed. Obviously, a separate holder for the beverage containers is not a satisfactory solution since it assumes that a consumer will always have such a holder at hand when it is desired to consume a beverage.
It would therefore be very desirable if self-contained packaging was provided for beverages which preserved the convenience of the conventional collapsible beverage containers described above, yet minimized (if not prevented) the spillage and leakage problems associated with such containers. And, it would be very desirable if means were provided so as to more readily facilitate easier consumption of the entire container contents. It is towards providing such a container that the present invention is directed.
According to the present invention, containers having a thin-film (i.e., readily collapsible) body portion are provided with integral drinking straws. Preferably, the drinking straw and the thin film body portion are formed as a one-piece container so that the need to provide a drinking straw separately of the container is obviated.
In some embodiments, the body portion will include means which serve to rigidify the body portion of the container along its longitudinal extent and thereby allow the container to be "free standing" even when partially or completely emptied of its contents. Such means may, for example, be in the form of integral (and preferably unitary) longitudinally extending ribs and/or longitudinally extending pleats, each of which may be disposed about the circumference of the container. In other embodiments, the thin film body portion is provided as a liner to an external rigid housing so as to allow the container to be free standing.
In particularly preferred embodiments, the integral drinking straw is stored during periods of nonuse in a recess associated with a portion of the container (e.g., a recess formed in the container's body or top portions), and may be erected to allow the container's contents to be consumed. In this manner, the containers of this invention may be easily stacked for shipment and/or retail sales, while providing the consumer with ready access to the container's contents. And, inadvertent spillage may be minimized (or eliminated) by providing an integral drinking straw which may simply be housed within a recess of the container.
These aspects of the present invention, and others, will become more clear to the reader after careful consideration is given to the detailed description of the preferred exemplary embodiments thereof which follow.